Actual Enrollment versus Weighted Enrollment for NJ School Districts

SFRA wonks reading this already know that SFRA is a "weighted aid formula" which sets higher spending targets for districts with more at-risk students, eg, students who are older, who are Free & Reduced Lunch eligible, and/or English Language Learners.  SFRA wonks know that SFRA also uses "exponential weighting" for at-risk students, which means that there are additional added weights for at-risk students who attend a district that is 40-60% FRL-eligible and a higher weight still if a district is over 60% FRL-eligible.

If you're curious about what the weights actually are, the 2016 Education Adequacy Report provides them.

SFRA uses its weighting formula to create an "Adequacy Budget" for a district, ie, the amount a district should spend in order to provide a "thorough and efficient education."

Under SFRA, if a district's tax base is insufficient to meet its Adequacy Budget, the district receives Equalization Aid to make up the difference under the formula.  SFRA's term for a district's tax-levy capacity is "Local Fair Share."

Hence, a district like Asbury Park, whose students are  over 90% FRL-eligible, has an actual enrollment of 2,168, but a "weighted enrollment" of 3,563.  Freehold Boro has an actual enrollment of 1,673 and a "weighted enrollment" of 2,503.

On the other hand, a district with middle-class or affluent students will have a much weaker weighting.  North Caldwell, an elementary-only district whose students are  is a very affluent, has an actual enrollment of 651 and a weighted enrollment of 655.   Chesterfield, another elementary-only district, but which is more middle-class than North Caldwell, has an actual enrollment is 770 and its "weighted enrollment" is only 788. 

This is the formula for Equalization Aid:

Equalization Aid = Adequacy Budget - Local Fair Share.

Well, If you've ever wondered what your district's weighted enrollment is or how high the weighting can inflate a district's enrollment, this Weighted Enrollment Spreadsheet gives you your answers.

The following districts have the 30 largest inflations.  Although most of the districts listed here are Abbotts, and some of the non-Abbotts like Wildwood City have strong tax bases, they aren't all Abbotts.

District	Projected Enrollment	Projected Weighted Enrollment	Percentage Difference	Abbott?
ASBURY PARK	2,168	3,563	164.3%	Yes
UNION CITY	12,363	20,118	162.7%	Yes
EAST NEWARK	348	564	162.1%	No
ATLANTIC CITY	6,723	10,876	161.8%	No
PASSAIC CITY	14,235	22,960	161.3%	Yes
PLEASANTVILLE	3,546	5,677	160.1%	Yes
PLAINFIELD	10,252	16,362	159.6%	Yes
TRENTON	15,161	24,168	159.4%	Yes
BRIDGETON	5,923	9,441	159.4%	Yes
LAKEWOOD	5,997	9,558	159.4%	No
LONG BRANCH CITY	5,104	8,111	158.9%	Yes
DOVER TOWN (VICTORY GARDENS)	264	419	158.7%	No
PERTH AMBOY	10,388	16,457	158.4%	Yes
PAULSBORO	1,057	1,674	158.4%	No
ELIZABETH	26,158	41,389	158.2%	Yes
NEW BRUNSWICK	9,962	15,748	158.1%	Yes
MANCHESTER REG.	871	1,375	157.9%	No
CITY OF ORANGE TWP	5,247	8,266	157.5%	Yes
WILDWOOD CITY	717	1,125	156.9%	No
WOODLYNNE BORO	568	891	156.9%	No
NEWARK	51,896	81,253	156.6%	Yes
WEST NEW YORK	7,719	12,084	156.5%	Yes
IRVINGTON	7,739	12,111	156.5%	Yes
CAMDEN CITY	15,512	24,255	156.4%	Yes
PATERSON	28,716	44,855	156.2%	Yes
LINDENWOLD BORO	2,753	4,295	156.0%	No
DOVER TOWN	2,889	4,490	155.4%	No
HARRISON (Hudson)	2,138	3,314	155.0%	Yes
GUTTENBERG	1,333	2,061	154.6%	No
BOUND BROOK	1,765	2,711	153.6%	No

This underscores how rough an approximation for "poverty" the Abbott list is.